The One That Got Away
by edwardsbellamy
Summary: She rolled into his sleepy little town. In one summer, she stole his heart and changed his life. What will happen when summer ends?


"Have you kids met the new neighbor yet?" my mother asked. I didn't bother to answer her question because I was practically asleep in my cornflakes. Why did she insist on getting us up at eight o'clock the first day of summer break? My mother was notorious for torturing her children, from limiting our sugar intake to kissing us good-bye in front of the whole school when she dropped us off. God only knew what she had in store for us that summer.

"I didn't know anyone was moving." My sister's overly chipper voice was giving me a headache.

"No one moved. Chief Swan's daughter from Pheonix is staying with him for the summer. Apparantly, she spends every summer in Forks and we just missed her by a few days when we moved in last year."

"How old is she?" Alice asked eagerly.

"I think around your age."

"Is she hot?" My brother's voice boomed.

"Emmett!" My mother slapped the back of his head. "I haven't met the girl yet. I ran into Charlie at the grocery store yesterday. Usually he doesn't venture out of the frozen food aisle, so I was surprised that he had a cart full of food. He said he would be picking her up at the airport last night. He seemed frazzled, so I didn't learn very much about her. Her name is Isabella, she's in high school, and she lives in Pheonix with her mother. I made a pan of brownies for her last night and I want you kids to take it over to her. Emmett, I want the whole pan to make it to Isabella! Edward, stop drooling in your cereal and go comb your hair!"

Emmett and I groaned and started to protest, but Mom fixed us with a look that both of us knew better than to argue with. "You three be ready to leave in five minutes!"

Chief Swan lived four houses down from us. On the walk over, Alice bounced and chattered about how she hoped Isabella would be her new best friend and shopping partner. I had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I definitely didn't need another yappy female hanging around, but if Alice had someone new to focus on, she might stop trying to give me a makeover.

We climbed the stairs to the chief's porch, and I lagged behind my siblings. Alice rang the bell three times in her excitement. We heard the pounding of feet and then a loud thud. A few seconds later, the door opened. Emmett was wrong. Chief Swan's daughter was beyond hot. She was like a wet dream come true dressed in short shorts and a tank top with _no bra_. Her dark hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail that exposed her creamy white neck and shoulders and her eyes were huge and expressive, definitely much better than the dead eyes of the girls in the magazines I hoped my mother would never find. I straightened up and tried to edge in front of my brother. There was no way I could block his giant ass from her view completely, but the big lug was stuck on some girl he had met at school who wouldn't give him the time of day. He had been bitching and moaning about her the entire week he'd been home from college, so I was hoping he wouldn't be any competition for the goddess in front of me.

Before I could find my voice, my sister had already launched herself into the girl's arms. Isabella stumbled and the two of them were about to go down in a tangle of limbs. I quickly moved behind Isabella and caught her. Emmett untangled Alice and pried her off of our new neighbor. I set Isabella back on her feet, but I had a hard time making my hands leave her hips. "Sorry if I hurt you! I'm just so excited to have a girl in the neighborhood! I know we're going to be the best of friends! I can't wait to take you shopping!" My sister gushed all of this out without taking a breath.

Isabella's eyes widened and she bit her lip. She stared at Alice as if she was in shock, a common reaction for people when they first meet my sister. I chuckled, "What she means to say is that her name is Alice. I'm Edward and this is our brother Emmett. We live down the street and we brought some brownies for you." I removed my hands from her hips and stuck one out for her to shake. She took my hand timidly and I felt a shock as our skin connected.

"My name is Bella. It's nice to meet you all." Her voice was soft and husky. I liked her nickname even better than her whole name. It suited her, pretty but unfussy. She seemed like the kind of girl who didn't bother with a lot of make-up or spent too much time worrying about her looks, unlike the girls of Forks High who'd shown any interest in me since we moved here. I wondered how she would handle my sister.

"Did you bring enough clothes with you? Do you want to go to the mall?" Alice was at it again. Bella looked down at her clothes and noticed that her nipples were hard, a fact that definitely hadn't escaped my attention. She hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest and looked back up at my sister. "I don't really like shopping," she murmured.

"There's really not much else to do around here. That's okay, I'll help you unpack and you can come over to our house and go swimming!" Alice was practically vibrating with excitement. "Did you bring a swimsuit?"

Bella shook her head, looking overwhelmed. "Great, shopping trip!" Alice chirped, snatching the pan of brownies from Emmett. She charged past Bella into the house then whirled around to face Emmett and me. "We'll see you boys at the pool later! Call Jazzy and invite him over!" With that, she shut the door in our faces.

Emmett and I looked at each other in confusion for a moment, then shook our heads and turned to head home. We were both used to Alice after living with her for sixteen years, but I really felt sorry for Bella.

That afternoon, Emmett, Jasper and I were in the basement rec room playing Call of Duty. Dad was at the hospital and Mom had gone to meet a client at her architecture firm in Port Angeles. She would be home late, so she'd left money for pizza. We heard the squeal of brakes and the spray of gravel that always accompanied my bat-shit crazy little sister's insane driving and then the slam of the front door. Alice dragged a shell-shocked looking Bella down the stairs, turned off the television and ordered us to change and meet her out by the pool.

A few minutes later, we were all hanging out by the pool. Alice had threatened Emmett with death if he got her hair wet, so he was swimming laps. Alice was floating on a pool raft in the shallow end and flirting with Jasper. Jasper was the first friend I'd made after we moved from Chicago last year, so I wasn't sure how I felt about him dating my little sister. But I was too wrapped up in Bella to pay any attention to them. She had been very shy about removing her cover-up and blushed when her tiny blue bikini was finally visible. I sat on the lounger next to her and grinned at her.

"Your sister doesn't take no for an answer," Bella whispered.

I laughed. "I don't think she even knows the word. Did she wear you out?"

"She's very sweet, she's just a little too...enthusiastic sometimes."

I laughed even harder. "You're way too nice. I'd call her pushy and insane."

Bella shook her head. "You're lucky to have a sister like her." She sighed wisfully.

I asked her about her family and found out she was an only child who often had to look out for her scatter-brained mother. She seemed to really love her mother, but she talked about her as if she were the parent. We talked so much that afternoon that we never got in the pool. I learned that Bella loved to read classic novels and we had very similar tastes in music and movies. I hadn't met a girl who could hold a decent conversation since we left Chicago, so the fact that she had a personality to match her looks made me fall for her that much more.

We spent almost all of our time together over the next month. Including my friend Ben and Alice's shy project Angela in our larger group, we all went to the beach, watched movies, hung out at the diner, and swam at our pool nearly every day. Bella worked in the library a few hours a week, so we often stopped by to harrass her. Emmett and I were coaching little league and making extra money umpiring. We were also playing on a summer team just for fun. I loved to see Bella in the crowd cheering for us. Bella and I also spent a lot of time alone talking and listening to music in my room. I took her to the small meadow on the edge of my family's property. I liked to walk through the wooded area bordering our house and I had discovered the meadow as a great place to get away from my crazy family and clear my head. It became our special spot, and often we would take a picnic. Bella would read aloud to me from her favorite books. I was never bored because I loved just listening to the sound of her voice with my head resting in her lap. As we became closer, our alone time expanded to include long makeout sessions. My mother would slap me and call me a caveman, but I was inordinately pleased that I was Bella's first kiss. We made up the most ridiculous excuses to sneak away from family and friends. My brother loved to razz us, but that didn't stop us from sneaking away every chance we could get.

July 4th was one of Bella's very favorite holidays and she was upset because the stomach flu was running through the police force of Forks, so her father had to work. I tried to make the holiday as special as possible for her. We joined my parents and siblings down on First Beach to watch the local fireworks display, Bella leaning her back against my chest. About halfway through, I whispered that I had a surprise for her. With a quick wave to my parents, we headed for my house. I held her hand as I led her through the trees to our meadow. She gasped and her eyes leaked a few tears as she saw what I had set up. I quickly lit the few candles I had set out earlier and started my I-Pod playing a romantic playlist I had made the day before. I had her join me on the blanket and laid out food from a picnic basket. I didn't tell her my mother had helped me, but she probably knew because she'd seen me practically burn water.

"Edward, this is incredible," she murmured, locking her eyes with mine. I gulped as my heart started to pound faster. The feelings I had for her were stronger than anything I'd ever felt before and trying to put them into words made me feel like I was about to burst.

"I just wanted to make today special for you."

"You've made this whole trip so special. You know, I really didn't want to spend the summer here. I thought I'd be stuck on fishing trips with my dad or all by myself when he worked late. I'm so glad my mom made me come." Her smile was incredible.

"Remind me to send your mom some flowers."

"Edward, do you have a thing for my mom?" she teased, giggling.

"No, I just want to thank her for her incredible daughter who I, um, I'm in love with," I stuttered out.

Bella's breath caught and she stared at me. I was holding my own breath, waiting for her to say something. Instead, she launched herself at me and joined her lips with mine. Her tongue pressed into my mouth insistently and her body pressed against mine, making a certain favorite body part of mine sit up and take notice. We had progressed to some under-the-clothes touching, but usually when I got excited I pulled that particular part of my body away from touching hers. I was underneath her, so I started to roll us to the side so we could move apart, but she adjusted her own body so that she was straddling my hips, pinning me to the ground and lining herself up with the most excited part of me. I drew my face back from hers and looked at her questioningly.

"Don't pull away," she breathed. "I don't want to stop tonight."

My eyes widened in surprise and my voice came out high and breathy. "Are you really sure?"

She smiled and nodded.

I cleared my throat in an attempt to get my voice to sound more manly. It didn't work very well. "I didn't bring a...well...you know...something for protection."

"It's okay. I'm on the pill."

"But I thought you were a...you know."

"You can say the words, Edward. I am a virgin, but I'm on the pill to keep my period regular and reduce cramps. We don't need a condom."

My face heated and I could feel her shaking with laughter. The movement of her body distracted me from my embarrassment and diverted my attention back to where it should have been. I captured her lips with my own and my hands made their way under her shirt. I did my best to touch her and make her feel good, but it was hard without any firsthand experience. My knowledge of how to please a girl came from talks with my brother that had both captured my interest and made me want to run from the room. I had also swiped a few of my sister's Cosmos. As our clothes came off, I touched and licked her in all the places that Cosmo had suggested. My fingers fumbled clumsily in an attempt to find her clit, but the sounds she made assured me I was getting the job done.

Watching her come apart was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. As she gasped in pleasure, she whispered that she loved me. Yeah, I could have died right there and I was still a virgin. She came back down from her high and grasped me in her hand, swiping her thumb across the head. I grabbed her wrist and shook my head. "That's not a good idea right now. Are you sure you want to? It's going to hurt." That part of the act made me want to get up and run, but my excited friend was keeping me right where I was.

She grabbed my chin and forced my eyes to meet hers. "I know it's going to hurt. I want it to be you."

I guided her hand back down to me so that she could show me where to go. I pushed into her a few inches and froze when she stiffened. Her face was scrunched up in pain. I wanted so badly to keep going, but I fought against my instincts and began to pull out instead. She shook her head and told me to keep going.

"I'm hurting you, Bella!"

"It hurts everybody. Just do it!"

So I did. When I was all the way in, I held my hips still and wiped a few tears off her cheeks. She pushed her hips up against mine and ordered me to move. So I did. After a few thrusts, the pleasure took over my control and I was thrusting erratically. I came embarrassingly quickly, but I thought I caught a few pleasurable moans from her before I was done. I rested my face against her neck and she stroked my sweaty hair. "Did you...um...did I do okay?" she asked hesitantly.

My head shot up and I looked at her disbelievingly. "Are you kidding me? I should be asking you that!"

She bit her lip. "So you had a good time?"

"That would be an understatement. Did it feel okay for you?"

"It wasn't that bad. I'm sure next time will be better."

Again I was in shock. "You want to do it again?"

Bella giggled. "Of course I do."

People should warn you about the mess after the first time you have sex. I would have brought some wet wipes. But considering how nervous I was about it with only what I already knew, I was probably better off not knowing. Anyway, to my surprise, Bella was very willing to put a lot more practice into our sex life and things got a lot better for her each time, if I do say so myself. We spent so much time in the meadow that my parents threatened to send out a search party.

As the end of the summer drew closer, I was turning down umpiring jobs, skipping games and blowing off friends to spend as much time as possible. I knew we had to talk about what would happen when she went home, but I couldn't bring myself to bring it up and she wasn't either. On the night before she left, we laid on a blanket in our meadow, nearly naked and tangled up in each other, both literally and figuratively.

I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. "Do you want me to drive you to the airport tomorrow?"

"No. If you do, I won't be able to get on the plane. Besides, my dad wants it to be just us."

"So, after tomorrow..."

Bella cut me off. "I don't want to talk about it, Edward. I just want to enjoy being here with you while I still can."

So we spent the rest of the night in silence, holding on to each other for as long as we could. We fell asleep like that and when I woke up the next morning, she was gone.

_ I wake up with a start and at first I don't know where I am. The room is familiar, but it's not mine. It's my parents' room, but the furniture is different. Why am I sleeping in my parents' room and where are they? I head for the bathroom to splash some water on my face. Looking in the mirror, I notice one more huge difference: my face. There are lines around my eyes and my hair is liberally threaded with gray. I look down to see that my teenage body has been replaced with a slight paunch. Suddenly, I remember. I'm thirty-five years old, still living in my childhood home. My parents have long since retired and moved south to a warmer climate. My siblings and friends have also moved on, but I remain here, hoping that someday _she _will come back to me._

_ I walk out onto the front porch so I can see her house. Charlie died of a heart attack a few days ago and she'll have to return to Forks after all this time to sort out his things and arrange his funeral. Something tells me she'll be here today. I'm not wrong. Less than half an hour later, a minivan pulls into Charlie's driveway. Three dark-haired children of various sizes tumble across the lawn, laughing and shrieking as if they are delighted to be free of the van. A golden retriever tumbles out and chases after them. A tall blond man walks from the driver's side and opens the passenger-side door. He helps a small woman from her seat, wrapping his arm around her to provide support. She is hunched over and seems to be crying, but I can tell without seeing her face that the woman is Bella. She has finally returned to Forks and has brought her husband and family with her._

Once again, I jerk awake and my eyes take in my surroundings. This time everything is familiar. I'm in my room. The alarm clock is flashing 7:25. It's the first day of school and if I don't get my ass in gear, I'm going to be late. I know this because I can hear my mother shrieking at me. It was just a dream. A really shitty dream, but a dream nonetheless. Bella has been home in Pheonix for three days. She might be gone, but at least we have texting and Skype and I'm not some pathetic loser pining away for his lost love. Shit, my dream made me out to be like a character from one of Bella's beloved classics. I shake my head in an attempt to clear it and vault out of bed, yelling at my mom to chill, I'm getting ready.

I half-ass my way through my morning routine, not bothering with my hair. No matter what I do, it always looks the same anyway. I don't put much effort into my clothes. After all, I'd pretty much rather be anywhere but school, but it is senior year. Alice is waiting in the passenger seat by the time I slump into my car. She of course looks like she's ready to pose for a fashion magazine and has been ready for an hour. She is annoyingly perky and I try to ignore her chatter on the drive to school. When we arrive, I am surprised that she doesn't immediately bounce off to find her friends. She is sticking suspiciously close to my side. I nod casually to a few people in the parking lot and make my way through the door to find my locker. Angela and Ben are standing next to my locker talking to a girl whose back is facing me. I know she's not from Forks. Great, the new girl would have dark hair that looks alarmingly like Bella's. As I arrive at my locker, the new girl turns around and suddenly I am having a full-on hallucination. "B-b-bella?" I gasp, my voice coming out annoyingly high and feminine.

She nods, biting her lower lip. Angela and Ben are both smiling widely and Alice is bouncing next to me and clapping her hands like a giant toddler. "Wh-what are you do-doing here," I stammer. My voice still sounds too much like a chick's, but I'm feeling too much shock too really worry about that.

"I go to Forks now. I moved in with my dad yesterday." Her eyes are wide and hopeful.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I choke out.

"I wanted to surprise you. Is it a good surprise?"

I decide I'm done with talking. I thrust my backpack at my hyperactive sister and pull her to me so I can kiss the shit out of her. My sister is squealing something, Angela's voice sounds embarrassed and I just know a teacher is going to pop out of hiding any second, but right now I'm too blissed out to care about anything but the girl in my arms.


End file.
